O’Neill rues Irish defending against Belgium
Ireland look set for exit after 3-0 defeat to Red Devils
Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill rued his team’s sloppiness in a 3-0 defeat to Belgium at Euro 2016 on Saturday that compromised their prospects of reaching the last 16.
Ireland held the Belgians at the interval of the Group E game in Bordeaux, but Romelu Lukaku netted twice in the second half, either side of an Axel Witsel goal, as Belgium claimed a comfortable win.
“We accepted the fact that Belgium are as talented a team, individually, as any in the competition, but the goals we gave away were not great from our viewpoint,” said O’Neill, whose team started their campaign with a 1-1 draw against Sweden.
“They pushed us back but my disappointment came from the fact that against Sweden we played exceptionally well with the ball, but today when we had it we looked too nervous and gave it away too readily.
“We tried to rectify that at half-time but the disappointment came from the fact they broke on us for the first goal.